“Millennials are the worst” has been the prevailing attitude of the Democratic Party establishment toward its largest demographic of supporters. The denigration of millennials from Clinton partisans signals how oblivious they are to working and middle class Americans.
“The millennial coalition Obama created just didn’t translate to Clinton, despite the Beyoncé and Katy Perry concerts,” wrote Asma Khaled and Joel Rose for NPR on November 14, in a hit piece blaming millennials for Clinton losing. Perhaps millennials have developed an abrasive attitude toward Clinton and establishment Democrats because Beyoncé and Katy Perry concerts were used by the campaign to solicit support, instead of actually addressing the issues and policies that gravely concern millennials’ futures.
In their fury at Gen Y, Clinton partisans never admit that they disproportionately supported Clinton over Donald Trump. Clinton’s loss can be credited to voters over the age of 45 who voted disproportionately for Trump over Clinton.
The pejorative narrative against millennials has been used for the past decade to explain away dissent after the 2008 economic recession. Clinton partisans used this election to discredit Bernie Sanders’ popularity. The Bernie bros narrative was propagated by Clinton shills in the media to portray the Vermont senator’s supporters as all sexist white males. The evidence they used was often falsely attributed to Sanders supporters or based purely on speculation and assumption. Most black voters under 30 voted for Sanders, yet Sanders’ campaign was whitewashed by mainstream media throughout the Democratic primaries.
He’s no longer the competition, yet Clinton partisans still attack Sanders. “He really seems obsessed with White America,” Eric Boehlert—0f Clinton Super PAC hitman David Brock’s Media Matter—tweeted in response to Sanders specifically referencing the white working class voters who disproportionately voted for Trump in the general election. These baseless attacks only fuel resentment toward the Democratic establishment from millennials and other Sanders supporters; and their ongoing use signals that the status quo doesn’t plan on enacting any reforms or learning from past mistakes.
At the April 2007 convention of New York State Union of Teachers, Clinton revealed what she really thinks of young people. “I believe it is time we get back to teaching discipline, self-control, patience, punctuality,” she said. “The biggest complaint that I hear from employers is that young people who show up for jobs don’t have those habits. They don’t get there on time. They don’t know how to conduct themselves appropriately.” In leaked audio from a fundraising gala, Clinton repeated these sentiments, implying millennials are predominantly disgruntled basement dwellers.
In the wake of Clinton’s loss, her minions have reverted to the same flawed tactics that failed miserably in the general election: scolding the establishment’s disloyal subjects for their insubordination and failure to fall in line. Peter Daou—of the Brock-run publication Blue Nation Review—has gone on Twitter tirades attributing Clinton’s loss to “white males on the left,” ignoring the critics from every other demographic who opposed her. Newsweek’s resident Russian conspiracy theorist Kurt Eichenwald attributed Clinton’s loss to Sanders supporters criticizing the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
This pervasive trend of Clinton partisans scolding and demanding everyone fall in line behind the Democratic Party as though they were misbehaving school children has bred antipathy not just among Sanders supporters but also thousands of other independent voters and Democrats. The hubris among Clinton partisans is one of the many reasons their candidate suffered an embarrassing loss to Trump.
Rather than acknowledging Clinton’s flaws as a candidate, the Democratic establishment relentlessly manufactured consent for her candidacy. Clinton’s FBI investigation, Clinton Foundation scandals, Wall Street and corporate ties were all written off as right wing conspiracy theories. The WikiLeaks emails that proved criticisms against Clinton were still dismissed as fabricated and were cited as benign by the Clinton partisans, who fear-mongered their bases away from drawing their own conclusions.
The reaction from Clinton partisans to her loss is predictable. They have firmly clung to their totalitarian support for the Democratic Party, refusing to acknowledge their complicity in helping Trump get elected.
Disclosure: Donald Trump is the father-in-law of Jared Kushner, the publisher of Observer Media.
